Al-Kāfi 1, record 172 of the digital edition

Translation

13. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from Muhammad ibn ‘Isa ibn ‘Ubayd from Yunus ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman from Sum‘a ibn Mihran who said: “I said to abu al-Hassan Musa (a.s.), ‘May Allah keep you well, in our meetings we discuss the issues and find out that for almost every thing there is something in writing with us, and that is all because of the blessings of your existence among us. We only find few small things for which we do not find any thing in writing, so we look on each other and we find certain issues similar to it then we use analogy in its best form.” <br>The Imam said, “What do you have to do with analogy? Many people before have been destroyed because of analogy.” The Imam then said, “When you face an issue and know he rule about it, deal with accordingly, and if you would have no knowledge about its rule then this.“ He pointed to his own mouth (meaning, this will give you the answer). The Imam then said, “May Allah curse Abu Hanifah who used to say, “Ali said so and so, but I said so and so. The Companions said so and so, but I said so and so.” <br>The Imam then asked me, “Have you been sitting with him?” I replied, “No, I have not sat with him but such are his statements.” I then asked him: “May Allah keep you well, did the Messenger of Allah (sw) bring to the people everything they needed in his time?” The Imam said, “Yes, and all that they will need up to the Day of Judgment.” I then said, “Is any thing lost from it?” The Imam replied, “No, it all is with the people to whom they belong.’”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — published with the edition, reproduced verbatim.